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Oct 1 It's October...HORROCTOBER on Dead End Follies

Don't say it. I know you're thinking it but don't you dare saying it: dedicating the month of October to horror fiction isn't that original. Especially for a pop culture blogger who specializes in books and movies. Maybe next year I'll do something original for Halloween, but this year I will give the people what they want to paraphrase Jalen Rose.

But you know me, there's a quirk to it: I won't be reviewing horror classics or different types of horror. I will be focusing instead on a particular subgenre which has the merit of terrifying the shit out of me: cosmic horror. Some of you might know the genre as Lovecraftian horror. The latter term is technically correct except what interests me here is how the genre evolved from H.P Lovecraft's mythos and took a life of its own, you know?

I've started preparing already (I got next week already all mapped out) and let me tell you, it's not going to be a straightforward road. There are very few straight cosmic horror writers out there and those who write this particular subgenre are often drifting in and out of it. So technically, horroctober will be dedicated to what is referred to as weird fiction, a hybrid genre that blends supernatural, mythical and scientific as per definition, which are more or less the founding principles of cosmic horror. This is complicated, I know.

So, who are the children of H.P Lovecraft worth reading? Who has reinvented and reappropriated the genre? Why is cosmic horror scarier than most horror subgenres? These are questions we'll examine this month. I'll have guests, perhaps even collaborators outside of the side. I invite you to read along with me all month and use the hashtag #horroctober to share your impressions of the books/movies reviewed on the site. Looking forward to discuss with you guys. Hopefully I'll help you to a couple sleepless nights by the time Halloween comes!